Gravel-packed liner and perforation assembly



GRAVEL PACKED LINER AND PERFORATION ASSEMBLY Filed Dect l4, 1942 fb INVENTOR.

BY/Q/MZ fluid through perforations I3,

' related Mer; 1a, 194s GaAvnL-Pacxan man AND Assmann rEaFoaa'rroN Jolm E. Eel-rel, neusten, rex., minidiu smid- Gompany,4 a corporation ard Oil Development of Delaware Application December 14, 1942, serial No. 463,921

(cales-12) 4 Claims.

In wells wherein the prpducing formation is of" a sandy character it is customary to arrange a formation and allow the liquid to flow from the producing formation through the gravel pack or screen into the bore of the prOduction tubing. 'I'his arrangement substantially reduces the I amount of sand carried into the' well by the fluid with attendant advantages well known to the art.

The present invention isfdire'cted to anovel gravel packed' screen or liner which may be low-- ered in position in a well without danger of con-v tamination. .l

The present inventionis also 'directed to the combination of a gravel pack liner and a bore hole gravel `pack orscreen adjacent theproducing Below perforations i2 the interior of lmember II is arranged for engagement with a bore hole gun tc guide the gun into a fixed position. I n

the figure the guide member is shown as a sleeve' Il with a hexagonal shaped interior'. The lower l end of sleeve I8 terminates. in an inwardly ex gun arranged to cooperate therewith whereby weakened or thin areas in the wall of the linerl may be perforated by the gun to allow the flow of fluid through the pack of granular material with which the liner is provided. l

Other objects and advantages of the present invention may 'be see'n from a reading of the following description taken withthe drawing in which v y Figure 1 is a view partly in sectionof a liner constructed in accordance with the present intending `ledge I9 for supporting the borehole A gun perforator comprising body 2 I, and barrels 22 and lower end 23 suspended by a cable 24 is arranged for cooperation with the gravel packed linerabove described'. End 23 is given the same conguration as guide base I8 so that on lowering the gun in the screen the gun will'be oriented by cooperation of member 23 with guide base I8. lIf the gun isvlowered'until cable 24 becomes slack. the weight of the gun will be sup-h ported by flange I9.- Barxfels 22 are spaced along the body so that each barrel will be exactly opposite a perforation I3 when lower' end 23 is supported by flange I9;V

A numberrof cable suspended gun perforators are well known to the art and it will be evidentv that any suitablefiring mechanism may be used. For example, the firing mechanism disclosed inI U. S. Patent No. 2,296,318, issued Septemberv22.

vention with the gravel pack sealed toprevent I contamination,

Figure 2 is avview partly in section of the liner shown in Figure i'with a bore hole gun arranged in position aftei` firing showing the perforation of the liner. and

Figure 3 is a viewpartly in section of another' embodiment of the liner of the present invention. Turning now specifically to the drawing, a tubular member or liner I-I is provided at its upper end withscrew threads for attachment to the lower end of a stringof tubing I2.

are arranged to perforate .the liner.

'predetermined intervals relatively large holes I2.

ber II and secured thereto in a fluid tight manner as by welds I5. A second sheath Il of larger --diameter than member I4 is arranged concentrii942, ,may be used to control the firing of the gun. s

With the arrangement'of the'gravel packed liner and bore hole gun above described it will be understood that the gravel packmay be placed in position and the bore hole washed without contaminating -the gravel pack. After the bore hole has'been cleaned' thoroughly metal sheaths` I4 and IB may be perforated to allow flow of fluid from the producing zone into the bore of the well.

All'

by employing bullets inA barrels 22 of smaller' v A relatively thin sheath I 4 is arranged on mem- Granular material vI'I may be any desired size and any suitable-size oi' bullets may be'projected from barrels 22. lIt has'be'en found, however, that the most advantageousresults are obtained diameter than the diameter of grains I1. If the size of the granular material-and bullets are proportioned in this manner,v the holes produced in sheaths I4 and I6 will be smaller than the granular material I'I and hence the granular material will lie-retained in position after the perforagravel oi coarse sand. 'I'he upper and lower ends of the sheath I6 are lpreferably attached by welds I l to the liner Il to form a fluid tight envelope protecting granular material I1 from contamination. It will be evident that the arrangement f members I4 and I6 prevents any circulation ofI min-intact.; y

as Vlo'ng as theyre-' v tion has bencompleted. Obviously, the sizeof the granular material maybe selected in accordance with the present well known practices to -form a pack capablev of retaining the major portion of the grains of sand which may be car- `ried into thel bore of the hole by the fluid being produced." `Itmay be'stated thatit is generally desirable to use la gravel pack having grains with screen.

While'in Figures 1 and 2 the'gravel pack is shown arranged outside of the thick walled liner body H, it will be evident that if desired, the pack may be arranged on the inside of the liner. This embodiment is illustrated in Figure 3 wherein corresponding parts are given the same numerals as in the preceding gures, In this embodiment liner 25 is not perforated but instead holes 26 are drilled only a part oi the way through the liner body so that this member forms one element of the container. Sheath 2l is arranged inside the liner to form a double wall container with granular material il filling the space between the walls. This embodiment is arranged to be perforated by a bore hole gun in exactly the same manner as has been precedingly described. It will be understood that the embodiment shown in Figure 3 is generally less desirable than that shown in Figures l and 2 because there will be some tendency for the gravel pack il to deect the perforating bullets and in some instances the deflected bullets may be stopped by the thick wall portion of outside liner thereby preventing a clean perforation by the bullet.

Having fully described and illustrated the preferred embodiments of the present invention, what I desire to claim is:

l. A well screen comprising in combination a relatively thick walled first tubular member having spaced weakened wall areas, a packof granular material arranged adjacent said member, a second tubular member of relatively thin wall section arranged adjacent said first member and sealed thereto to enclose said gravel pack in a fluid tight container, and a guide Vmeans secured to said first tubular member for positioning ja perforatinggun having bullets arranged to be projected radially with the bullets in apposition with said. spaced weakened areas.

2. A well screen comprising in combination two concentrically spaced tubular members. with at least portions of the walls of both membersv of relatively thin section and in radial apposition means sealing the upper and lower ends of said members together tc form a fluid tight double walled container, a pack of granular material arranged between the Walls of said container, means secured to the upper end of said container for attaching it to the lower end of a string of tubing and guide means secured to said container arranged for positioning a perforating gun having bullets for radial projection with the bullets in apposition with said portions of the walls.

3. A well screen comprising, in combination, a

relatively thick walled tubular member providedl with a plurality of radially extending spaced 'perforations, a relatively thin walled tubular member arranged concentrically with said thick fluid tight container, granular material arranged l, Within said container in the form of an annular pack and means secured to said thick walled member arranged for guiding a perforating gun having bullets for radial projection to a xed position with respect thereto with the bullets in apposition with said spaced perforations.

4. A Well screen comprising in combination a relatively thick walled tubular member having a plurality of spaced Wall areas from which at least a major portion of material has been removed and which are more readily traversed by radially projected bullets than the remainder" of the member, a granular annulus pack arranged concentrically with respect to the tubular member, sheet means readily penetrated by bullets securing said granular pack in a fixed position with respect to said tubular member and comprising at least a portion of a container enclosing said granular pack in a uid-tight manner and guide means secured to said tubular member arranged for guiding a perforating gun having bllets for radial projection to a"xed position at which the bullets are in apposition with said spaced portions of the tubular member.

JOHN ECKEL. A 

